Exactly when and for how long were you "#1 ladder" in SC1 and WC3? I have a hard time believing that someone on /. is A+ (not even olympic) on iccup on par with a swarm of koreans with 350 APM. I'm just going to believe that you're talking about crappy American ladders of the past.
If you haven't been playing SC2 8 hours a day since it went beta, you're already *way* behind. Times have changed, and just because you did it before doesn't mean you can do it again.
FYI I am currently an A- terran (SC1, never gonna play SC2.) and I hope you've heard of players like IdrA, ret, and NonY who moved to kr progamer houses.